Prosecutor Rust Drops Alec Baldwin’s Case, Actor Will Not Face Charges Again
Alec Baldwin He will no longer face charges in the October 2021 shooting Rust a photographer Halyna Hutchins.
Special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey said Monday, December 23, that the request for the reinstatement of the charges against the actor, 66, was withdrawn due to the lack of the New Mexico District Attorney’s office. The New York Times and CBS News.
The prosecution’s previous case against Baldwin collapsed at trial in July when his lawyers said prosecutors withheld evidence that could be connected to the case.
“The state’s efforts to continue to prosecute this case in a fair and comprehensive manner have been met with many obstacles that have jeopardized its ability to prosecute in a manner that is fully governed by the law,” Morrissey said in a statement released by the newspaper. New York Times.
“The appeal was to challenge the Court’s dismissal of criminal charges against Producer and actor, Alec Baldwin including involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of artist, Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust on October 21, 2021,” a statement released by the New. Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney’s Office said.
“The FJDA commends Morrissey for his work in prosecuting two such cases at the national level, including the successful prosecution of Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The FJDA supports the Hutchin family and their continued fight for justice in a civil court,” added the statement, according to CBS News.
Baldwin’s lawyers, Luke Nikas again Alex Spirosaid the decision to “dismiss the complaint is the final defense of what Alec Baldwin and his lawyers have said from the beginning – this was an unspeakable tragedy but Alec Baldwin did not commit a crime. The law remains the same in New Mexico.”
Baldwin has yet to comment publicly on the decision but on Monday shared a link to a New York Times article about it with X.
Hutchins was killed again Rust director Joel Souza was injured by a live-action gunshot wound in October 2021. Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Baldwin in February 2022 and settled with the Emmy winner that October.
Baldwin, who denied firing the gun, was later charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in January 2023 and pleaded not guilty a month later. Criminal charges were dropped in April 2023. However, he was charged with second degree involuntary manslaughter earlier this year and went on trial in July.
The case was dismissed by the First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in July. Sommer agreed with Baldwin’s attorneys that prosecutors withhold evidence that may be related to the shooting.
“There’s no way the court is going to fix this,” Sommer told the court, per NBC News. “The penalty of dismissal is the only valid remedy.” The dismissal was prejudicial, meaning that a manslaughter charge against Baldwin could not be filed and, however, Morrissey sought to appeal that decision.
Film producer, Hannah Gutierrez-ReedHe was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison. His lawyers’ request for a new trial was denied in September.
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